Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser

She wasn't sure exactly. She only knew that, after two and a half days of being "home" to take care of Gran, she'd been awakened by a man who whispered he'd "stab the old lady" if she screamed or tried to escape; and that was all he had to say.

So have you read this one? I would love to know some of your thoughts, without spoilers of course, because I just started this one!

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes a brand-new love story in the Baxter Family collection about two people who long ago shared a childhood tragedy—two people desperate to find each other and the connection they once shared…and just maybe a chance at love.

Brady Bradshaw was a child when the Oklahoma City bombing took his mother from him. Every year, Brady visits the site on the anniversary to remember her. A decade ago on that day, he met Jenna Phillips, who was also a child when her parents were killed in the attack. Brady and Jenna shared a deep heart connection and a single beautiful day together at the memorial. But after that, Brady never saw Jenna again. Every year when he returns, he leaves a note for her in hopes that he might find her again.

This year, Ashley Baxter Blake and her sister Kari Ryan take a spring break trip with their families that includes a visit to the site to see the memorial’s famous Survivor Tree. While there, Ashley spots a young man, alone and troubled. A chance moment leads Ashley to help the young man find the girl he can’t forget—Jenna Phillips.

Ashley’s family is skeptical, but in the end everyone comes together to support Ashley’s efforts to find the girl and bring them together. But will it work? And is a shared heartache enough reason to fall in love?

Deeply emotional and beautifully romantic, To the Moon and Back is an unlikely love story about healing, redemption, and hope that springs from the ashes of a tragedy.

To start off I need to say a
huge thank you to the amazing publishing company for letting me be part of the
release of this fantastic book. I also want to give a heads up to the readers,
you will need some tissues handy. I know I did!

This amazing story touched me right away, when I was little the Oklahoma City
Bombing happened, I still remember seeing it on TV and hearing about it. I was
actually in middle school and my friends and I started collecting for donations
to help in any way we could. We actually ended up on TV because of the amount
we raised and what we were doing. We just wanted to help in some way. Turns out
we were able to collect enough change and donations to sponsor two of the
children's chairs at the memorial. So this book really hit home for me. Reading
about the memorial had me in tears.

The story though had me crying even more. I loved this book and plot so much.
It's so well written, like all of author Karen Kingsbury's books, that you just
fall right into the story and live it with the characters. The main characters
are what drew me into this book so much, it was if I could feel exactly what
they were going through, I needed there to be that happy ending and I needed to
know what was going to happen to them next. I'll admit I had to put this one
down a few times, mainly because I was crying so hard. It hit me right in the
feels, but it's just that good. Each part of this book is just that well
written.

Even though this book is part of a series, you can read it as a standalone like
I did, though now I'm going to go back and read the whole series. I have to do
so! I loved this one so much that I can't help myself. Overall To The Moon And
Back is a fantastic book that I loved from start to finish. I can't wait to
read more of this series. It's a quick and emotional read if you're in the mood
for one of those types of books, then you should dive right into this one!

Karen Kingsbury, #1 New York Times bestselling
novelist, is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more
than twenty-five million
copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have
topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development
with Hallmark Films and as major motion pictures. Her Baxter Family
books are being developed into a TV series slated
for major network viewing sometime in the next year. Karen is also an
adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. In 2001 she and her
husband, Don, adopted three boys from Haiti, doubling their family in a
matter of months. Today the couple has joined
the ranks of empty-nesters, living in Tennessee near five of their
adult children.

Learn more about Karen’s books and upcoming projects and speaking events at
www.KarenKingsbury.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @KarenKingsbury.

What did you think of this review? Let me know in the comments below! Are you going to get your copy of this fantastic book? I'd love to hear your thoughts when you do.

Friday, May 25, 2018

Book Blogger Hop is another post I'm going to be trying out and this one has a topic each week, which is something I've been trying to bring to the blog. I'm really excited about this one because I have a hard time coming up with something fresh to talk about and I'm hoping this helps.

If you would be interested in doing your own post, please CLICK HERE to learn more about this great hop!

I don't remember the exact book, but I can tell you the one I do remember the most. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton! This is one of my all time favorite books, yep I said one and not the one. I still can't pick just one! LOL

Monday, May 21, 2018

Today I'm super excited to share with you an awesome new book by Jo Schaffer! So today I have all the book information and a fantastic guest post from this author as well.

Stanley and Hazel by Jo Schaffer

Release Date: May 15, 2018

Publisher: Month9Books

A great depression has gripped the city of St. Louis in
1934. Stanley, an orphaned newsy, lives in a poor part of town hit especially
hard by the economic downturn. One night, Stanley runs into Hazel, a restless
debutante in waiting who has begun to question her posh lifestyle in the midst
of the suffering she sees. She’s out and about without an escort and against
her father’s wishes.

When they discover the body of a girl with her head bashed
in by a baseball bat, the very different and separate realities of the two
teens inform their decision. Together they will figure out what happened to her
and bring those responsible to justice.

But getting involved with each other and digging into the
secrets behind this murder earns them some powerful enemies, including a secret
group seeking to rid society of all they deem “undesirable.” They’ve put into
motion “The Winnowing,” a plan seeking to take over the city and enforce their
will.

As Stanley and Hazel’s forbidden feelings for one another
grow, their investigation turns deadly. Now, it is up to Stanley and his gang
of street kids to stop Hazel from becoming the next victim.

Jo Schaffer was born and raised in the California Bay Area in a huge,
creative family. She is a YA novelist, speaker, writer at Patheos.com, works in
film production and is a Taekwondo black belt.
She's a founding member of Writers Cubed and co-founder of the Teen Author
Boot Camp, one of the largest conferences in the nation for youth ages 13-19.
She and a crew of local and international bestselling authors present writing
workshops to hundreds of attendees at the Utah-based conference as well as
hundreds of others worldwide who view the conference online.
Jo loves being involved in anything that promotes literacy and family. She
is passionate about community, travel, books, music, healthy eating, classic
films and martial arts. Her brain is always spinning new ideas for books and
sometimes she even gets around to blogging.
Jo is a mom of 3 strapping sons living in the beautiful mountains of Utah
with a neurotic cat named Hero.

I'm excited to have this author with us today and sharing what's on her bookshelf. If you're anything like me seeing other people's TBR's and shelves are fun. So let's get to it!

My bookshelf, which is actually an antique trunk, contains a variety of fiction and nonfiction. I have a collection of the classics, Hemingway, Henry James, Jane Austen, Tolstoy, the Brontes, F. Scott

Fitzgerald and so on. Among those are also works of Shakespeare and poetry. I have a collection of

antique books that I have discovered in dusty old bookshops during my travels through Europe and the United States. I’ve also been building up a collection of YA literature—contemporary, fantasy, romance and paranormal. Many of them written by wonderful authors I am lucky enough to know personally. I also have many psychology, philosophy, historical and spiritual nonfictions. I have a book for whatever kind of mind journey I am in the mood for.

One (1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card and a digital copy of Stanley and Hazel by Jo Schaffer (INT)